SEC Network Analysts Give Preseason Power Rankings: Where Does Tennessee Fall

With the 2026 season just around the corner, many fans and media personnel are giving their predictions and power rankings for the upcoming season. Four SEC Network analysts- Benjamin Watson, Alyssa Lang, Dari Nowkah, and Chris Doering- recently made their preseason power rankings for the 2026 season, and some of them were not too kind to Tennessee.

Where Four SEC Network Analysts Predict the Vols Will Finish

Tennessee offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. (70) before a college football game between Tennessee and Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Sept. 27, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Benjamin Watson: Watson placed the Vols in 8th place in his SEC power rankings. He placed them directly below rival Alabama and directly above Florida. Unfortunately for Vols fans, he placed the Vols in the highest position out of all four analysts.

Chris Doering: Doering has the Vols placed two spots below Watson at 10th. He placed the Vols directly below Florida and directly above Missouri. He also placed in-state rival Vanderbilt ahead of Tennessee at 8th.

Dari Nowkah: Nowkah listed the Vols at 12th in his power rankings. This places them just below Missouri and just above Kentucky. In contrast to Doering, he placed Vanderbilt down at 15th, while putting a lot of faith in Florida, placing them at 5th.

Alyssa Lang: Lang had the Vols the lowest of the four, putting them at 13th. She only put Auburn, Kentucky, and Arkansas below them. She was also the only one of the four to place Mississippi State above Tennessee. The Bulldogs come in directly above Tennessee at 12th in her rankings.

My Reaction to the Rankings

Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter (7) and linebacker Edwin Spillman (13) celebrate during a college football game between Tennessee and Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Sept. 27, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Before reacting to this, keep in mind these are power rankings, not actual predictions for the season. While there is no exact definition of what “power rankings” are, most use power rankings as a combination of different factors, such as how “hot” a team is, what their overall record was the previous season, and their prediction for the team.

In defense of the analysts, it's hard to judge Tennessee because the Vols still have a giant question mark at the quarterback position. Still, most of these rankings seem very low for Tennessee.

South Carolina, which finished 4-8 last season, was ranked higher than Tennessee in three of the four analysts' rankings. Only two schools, Kentucky and Arkansas, were ranked below Tennessee in all four rankings.

Personally, I believe that Watson was spot on with his prediction. It would be unfair to say that the Vols, who finished last season 8-5, should be ranked higher than schools like Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ole Miss, or Texas A&M, who all return their starting quarterbacks, a lot of other key starters, and had a better record than Tennessee last season. Alabama and LSU are the other two teams ranked above Tennessee, and while you can make the argument for Tennessee being ranked ahead of them, I will not argue too much with the team bringing in the top transfer portal class in the country and a team that won a College Football Playoff game last season being ranked above the Vols.

At the same time, I think Watson does a great job of giving the Vols credit for returning multiple key starters on both sides of the ball. That group includes a 1,000-yard rusher, two great receivers (and a lot of depth at the receiver position in general), one of the top offensive lines in the SEC, one of the best linebackers in the SEC, and one of the best sophomore corners in the SEC, among others.

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